Crime & Safety

UPDATE: 138th Reopens After Downed Tree Causes Outage on Finn Hill

Kirkland Police and Fire crews had closed NE 138th Place to traffic at Juanita Drive, but cut the downed tree off power lines and out of the road. Power in the area remained out at 3 p.m. on Christmas Day.

UPDATE, 3 p.m. Dec. 25: Northeast 138th Place near the top of Finn Hill has been reopened to traffic, but power remained out in the area after a tree in Big Finn Hill Park was blown over by the wind onto power lines and partially into the road. Kirkland Fire Department crews apparently cut the tree off the lines and out of the street and had left the scene. Puget Sound Energy crews, busy on this Christmas Day with outages all over King County, had not arrived on the scene by 2:50 p.m., but a PSE truck was spotted nearby stopped along Juanita Drive.

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Original story:

Strong winds around noon on Christmas Day apparently blew down a tree across the road near , causing a power outage on the upper part of Finn Hill and prompting Kirkland Police and Fire crews to close NE 138th Place at Juanita Drive.

A Kirkland Fire Department engine was blocking NE 138th at Juanita Drive at about 1:15 p.m. Sunday, and a firefigher at the scene was turning away cars attempting to enter the street, which leads to a residential area adjacent to the park. Juanita Drive remained open.

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The firefighter said a tree had come down across the road and was responsible for the power outage. He added that Puget Sound Energy had been alerted.

The outage appeared to be in a limited area on top of Finn Hill, with all of the Inglewood Village area without power and the traffic light at Juanita Drive and Holmes Point Drive not operating. Power remained on, however, just down the hill to the south and in residential areas just to the east.

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Joe Sanford, Kirkland Fire Department Battalion Chief, confirmed that a crew had been dispatched to the scene. He added that he had also heard several calls on the NORCOM police and fire communications network requesting assistance from PSE line crews, some in Kirkland and some in other areas of King County.

"I want to say at least 10 or 12 requests for PSE have gone out," he said. "I don't know if they are for power outages or trees on lines or what. Finn Hill usually gets hit pretty hard."


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